When we first put together our Facebook Chart, we were contacted to take a look at Esimit Europa. The yacht racing project has about 4,600 ‘likes’ on Facebook, and this week, the team announced the team that would compete on the yacht in 2011 under the slogan – ‘All Europeans together on the same boat.’

The Esimit Europa project began in  1995, as an idea to use sailing as a symbol of unity and cooperation between two border cities of Nova Gorica (Slovenia) and Gorizia (Italy). The Esimit Europa yacht is the only boat in the world to sail under the European flag, and the project has some powerful political allies including the President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso.

The projects shows that sailing as a platform can be used for all kinds of ends. Not just selling products, or entertaining clients, but being a symbol to bring people together around and a catalyst for building long term growth and awareness of programs such as the European Energy online movement.

Esimit Europa enjoys the support of both the worlds of diplomacy and business. The platform is aimed at enabling dialogue about crucial issues for the development of European societies.

Sponsors of the project include Gazprom and Medot Sparkling Wine.

Now, some of Europe’s best sailors have been announced as crew for the 2011 season. The crew was introduced at an event in Monaco attended by Prince Albert of Monaco Albert II and other VIPs.

HSH the Prince of Monaco said in a key-note speech:

“Sailing is a unique and noble sport; it promotes a strong and united team, encouraging dialogue between crew members. As President of the Yacht Club de Monaco I am proud that our members defend these core values of solidarity, friendship and cooperation. Today, on this special occasion of the launch of Esimit Europa 2, I wish the owner and his crew every success in realising their future goals and to them representing a united and successful Europe at the largest regattas all over the world.”

The project has announced further challenges for the future, in sports as well as in the field of diplomacy. Igor Simčič, the project founder and owner of the Esimit Europa 2 yacht, announced:

“Going beyond Europe is among our long-term plans. For the moment, we will focus on doing our best to improve our results even further in Europe’s most important regattas. Furthermore, our efforts to foster collaboration among European peoples in ways other than sports continue.”

The crew features names from the America’s Cup and top level offshore racing.

Jochen Schümann said:

“Sailing has always united peoples and continents. We are Germans, Slovenians, Italians, French, Spanish or whatever, but everyone is driving the same boat, the same Europe, and we are driving the continent together in this global development.”

Sidney Gavignet, who is no stranger to long term sailing  projects involving governments, communities and long term goals, being involved with Oman Sail said:

“Sailing, to me, equals to sharing: each time you sail, you share something with those you are working with and with those who are watching you. Thus, for me it is very important to be on a boat that does not only sail for victories, but also carries a greater message.”

More Sailing Business News

Yacht racing in the Caribbean will benefit from the return on the Voiles de Saint-Barth in 2011. The race will run from the 4th to 9th April and organisers are planning to build on the success of the maiden event. The race invites many superyachts and maxis from all over the world to compete. Class 40 yachts have also been invited to compete. The growing offhshore monohull class attracted over 40 entries for the Route du Rhum and would swell the numbers for the Voiles de Saint-Barth significantly.

François Tolède, Luc Poupon and the whole team of organisers are working hard to promote the Voiles de Saint-Barth with the help of Peter Holmberg, a sailor based in the US Virgin Islands. Holmberg, an Olympic medallist and America’s Cup winner, took part in the very first Voiles de Saint-Barth sailing aboard the 114 foot ketch Sojana.

Organisers hope to attract 60 boats to the yacht race, with 25 boats already signed up.

Watchmaker Richard Mille will once again be the headline sailing sponsorship partner. Sportswear specialist Gaastra will become a new official partner joining Taittinger champagnes, whose presence at the prize giving last spring helped win over many of the sailors taking part. Other partners include The Banque des Antilles Françaises, the Guanahani & Spa hotel, the St Barth Hoteliers’ Association and the St Barth Tourist Board.

Bringing together so many elegant high performance racing yachts in the spring in the Caribbean is an attractive proposition. Maxi yachts and superyachts are included on the invitation list alongside classic yachts. In the United States, specific measures being put in place to attract North American owners.

More Caribbean Yacht Racing News.

Action sports company Gaastra has been announced as an official partner of the Voiles de Saint-Barth to be held in April 2011. The Dutch manufacturer will join headline sponsor Richard Mille to support the event which aims to attract owners and skippers of Maxi Yachts and Classic boats.

Emmanuel Galle, General Director of Gaastra France said:

“Les Voiles de Saint Barth won us over with its first edition that we watched closely from the outside. This major sailing event is aimed at the world’s finest racing, Maxi and Classic yachts. This prestigious yachting corresponds to the image of our brand. Many yachts from North America, as well as from Latin America sail in the Caribbean in April, and this is a way for our group to be more present in these markets.”

Gaastra’s yachting partnerships include Voiles de Saint-Tropez and Copa del Rey. The company will be presenting a new “Voiles de Saint Barth” range in early 2011.

François Tolède, the organiser of the Voiles de Saint Barth is obviously pleased to be able to announce the arrival of Gaastra.

“The Dutch Group’s strategy fits in perfectly with our own. The power of marketing and the image of Gaastra will help us to step up our promotion of the event to British and American yachtsmen. The prestigious yachts that sail in St. Barts convey an image of elegance, excellence and quality, which matches perfectly the aims of Gaastra”.

More Sailing Apparel Sponsorship News…

There is a tendency to become addicted to the constant feeds of information coming from thousands of sources around the world, even during holidays. We’ve turned down the noise for the last few days to spend time with family and friends and while we weren’t watching, a couple of you might have noticed that we got hacked in the process.

Yachtsponsorship.com is back on desck today, taking a look at the only real news in yacht racing at this time of the year, the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race.

The biggest story of the pre-start was the race for Etihad Stadium to source, transport, step and test a new mast after losing one during the delivery trip to Sydney. Grant Wharington and ‘Wild Thing’ doesn’t have much luck when it comes to the Sydney Hobart Race. But new sponsors, Etihad Stadium, who won the title sponsorship of the yacht in an innovative raffle will probably get a decent return on ivestment as a result of the mishap with the mast.

Etihad Stadium retired before leaving Sydney harbour, preventing any chance of winning the on-the-water race, but in terms of pure media coverage, the team will do ok. Little  consolation to a hard-core sailor like Wharington, but that’s yacht racing.

The other story that got a lot of coverage before the start of the race was the return of Ludde Ingvall,  a previous winner of the race on a boat named YuuZoo. The Big Boat Racing Team have been experimenting with social media, with big hopes for live streaming video during the race.

Despite relatively mild conditions, the reality of trying to sail a maxi yacht and updating youtube  seem to be a little bit too much for the video technology. The facebook feed though has more activity and fan support is strong, with 1000 people signed up to the team’s Facebook page.

As the technology gets better, it will become easier for smaller teams to own their own media and communicate their sponsor’s messages to niche audiences of fans, but the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race has something that no other Yacht Race has. National recognition by the public and buy-in from one of the established free-to-air broadcasters.

This year, like all years, there are only two sports stories in Australia on the 26th of December. The cricket and the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. Sailing doesn’t just lead the sports news on Boxing Day – in many cases it leads the news.  Even though a cold and grey day prevented many spectators from lining the cliffs for the start, Channel 7 streamed the start live around the world via the internet and are providing regular updates via their website and partnership with Yahoo! in Australia.

So what’s the secret? Well as one speaker at the recent World Yacht Racing Forum put it – it’s about storytelling consistency. The race is that same date every year. This one small detail allows competitors, fans, media, sponsors and other stakeholders like local hotels, resturants, airlines ferry companies and the public to come to expect the event, to look forward to it.

As we go into 2010, many of the commerical events that are vying for sponsorship money and fan attention have yet to finalise their calenders. While sponsorship windows close, many series have not confirmed venues or fixed dates for their events. It’s the little things that need to be done better if sailing is to compete for attention with the world’s greatest sports.

There are not many yacht races that get the mass media attention and coverage as the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. It’s not just thousands of people on the cliffs and in the spectator fleet – it’s live TV coverage for 3+ hours all over the country.

If you haven’t been in Sydney on Boxing Day, it’s hard to imagine the importance of the race to the Australian summer sporting psyche. Boxing Day is a day for eating Christmas lunch leftovers and watching the Boxing day test match (Cricket) and the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race start.

While there will be 116 boats on the start line, most of the attention will be on the Super Maxis – the race to the ‘heads’ and the right hand turn south.

As sponsorships go, the naming rights for these super-maxi yachts is pretty good value. Using the old fashioned ‘equivalent media value’ measures, the names of the brands are mentioned over and over again during coverage of the start and the race and coupled with huge spinnakers gives great recall and recognition. Think of ICAP Leopard, Wild Oats, Alfa Romeo and Australian Skandia.

But before there was Skandia, there was Wild Thing and since the financial services company changed ownership in Australia, the company has pulled out of sponsoring ‘Geelong Week’ and Grant Wharington’s Super Maxi.

Wharington though, has an interesting concept for finding a new title sponsor. A raffle – where every $AUD 10,000 ticket could win a chance of naming rights for the boat including the Sydney Hobart Race.

Here’s how it works.

Step 1: You buy a Wild Thing Corporate Sailing package on the 100 footer for $10,000 and you get to take 25 people out sailing on the boat for the ride of their life in your choice of location: Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Brisbane, Newcastle and Port Stephens.

Step 2: For that same $10,000, you also go into the draw for your company and your brand to win the naming rights of the boat until mid 2010 – the launch of which will be the start of the Rolex Sydney to Hobart on Boxing Day – the great race that attracts huge national and international exposure.

Wharington says:

“The Wild Thing Yachting team has always had incredible support in the wider community, and it’s that support we’d love to underpin the new future of the boat and the crew” he said.

“We don’t have the million dollar budgets of our competitors, and never will have…we run a Corinthian sailing team where everyone commits to getting the yacht to the start line on Boxing Day – but without some corporate support, it’s really tough to compete at this level…”

“It’s a great opportunity to join the Wild Thing team, in the pursuit of one of Australia’s most sought after sporting trophies. I can’t guarantee you that we will be first to Hobart, BUT, I can tell you that as always we will bust our guts trying “

The draw for the new Naming Rights sponsor of Wild Thing will be conducted under the strict supervision of the President of Yachting Australia Mr Andrew Plympton , on the 8th of December, live on 3AW Breakfast program with Ross Stevenson and John Burns and streamed live on the 3AW website.

For more information contact Jody O’Brien on +61 416 222 899

100ft British supermaxi yacht ICAP Leopard, owned by Mike Slade, took line honours in the Heineken Cape to Bahia Race, setting a new course record. Having left Cape Town on 10th January, she crossed the finish line off the coast of Salavador de Bahia, Brazil, at 17:46:35 (UTC), completing the 3,330 nautical mile course in just 10 days, 5 hours, 46 minutes and 35 seconds. ICAP Leopard’s closest rival Rambler was approximately 230 nautical miles behind when she crossed the finish line in light and tricky conditions.

Mike Slade, owner of ICAP Leopard and Chief Executive of Helical Bar plc, said shortly after the finish:

“This has been a truly fantastic race and I am delighted that we have set a new course record. We have pushed ICAP Leopard hard throughout the race and we now believe that the modifications we made last summer have turned her into the ultimate record breaking machine. It is a great feeling to add yet another course record to our collection.”

Chris Sherlock, Boat Captain, commented on ICAP Leopard’s performance and tactics:

“We knew we had to get out of the blocks fast to get a jump on Rambler, which we were able to do as the stronger reaching winds favoured us. Once we were ahead, our navigator and afterguard did a fantastic job keeping us in phase with the breeze right through to the finish. The record is what we came for; hopefully it will stand for some years to come.”

ICAP Leopard currently holds 10 records, including four World Speed Sailing Records and six course records. This will be her 11th record since her launch in 2007 and with a full race schedule in place for 2009, there is no doubt that she will be looking for more. Following on from the Heineken Cape to Bahia Race, ICAP Leopard will compete in the RORC Caribbean 600 and Antigua Sailing Week, before heading to North America for a number of corporate events. She will then return to the UK for the summer racing season and her corporate charter commitments.

At 1400 local time, Saturday 10th January, ICAP Leopard, the British 100ft supermaxi will begin the 2009 Heineken Cape to Bahia Race from Cape Town, South Africa. With two days to go before the start, final preparations are being made across the fleet, for what should be a classic offshore race. Having undergone a full refit and optimization treatment since her last race, owner Mike Slade and his world class crew are looking forward to getting out on the water and setting a record pace.

Mike Slade, owner of ICAP Leopard and Chief Executive of Helical Bar plc, commented:

“We are all really looking forward to getting underway on Saturday. The crew has done a great job getting the boat up to scratch for the start. Cape Town has been a fantastic place to be over the last few days and I cannot believe the amount support we have had from the public and the press. It is going to be a long and tough race, but I am really excited about competing in this prestigious offshore challenge.”

When asked about the weather conditions expected during the race, ICAP Leopard Navigator, Rosco Monson, said:

“It looks like a quick exit from Cape Town with a 25 knot southerly, however this will quickly drop to around 12 knots on day two or three. The toughest part of the race for us, will be this period of light winds, so we will be actively seeking stronger winds wherever we can. The second half of the race looks more stable with 13-18 knots of trade winds, so it will be important for us to reach these trade winds as soon as possible.”

ICAP Leopard will compete in this traditionally downwind race with a seasoned crew that includes Whitbread and Volvo Round the World Race sailors Jan Dekker (RSA), Gordon Maguire (IRE), Jason Carrington (GBR) & Paul Standbridge (GBR), as well as members of America’s Cup syndicate Team Shosholoza, David Rae (RSA) and Joey Heywood (RSA).

Thomas Coville has beaten the single-handed 24 hour distance record on a multihull this Sunday evening at 1815 UT with a total distance of 620.80 miles covered at the average speed of 25.87 knots.

The maxi trimaran Sodeb’O is making headway beam onto the wind in a 22 to 26 knot NNW’ly air flow with waves of 4 metres. Coville has just broken his previous record set in the same zone on 6th January 2008. At that time he covered 619 miles in 25.80 knots.The wind is filling in so the record is set to continue to increase over the coming hours. Naturally, this new record has yet to be approved by the WSSRC.

www.sodebo-voile.com

Want to be part of the crew on a world class maxi like Wild Oats XI, or Skandia, Ichi Ban or Shockwave 5? Bidding is now open in the CYCA, SOLAS Trusts, eBay Auction. The Cruising Yacht Club has offered places on these boats during the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge on Tuesday, 16th of December 2008.

This annual big boat dash around Sydney Harbour, will again bring together a number of Rolex Sydney Hobart line honours contenders. This year the fleet will be racing to raise awareness, and money, for the CYCA’s Safety of Life at Sea, (SOLAS) Trusts, which support search and rescue organisations Australia-wide. The CYCA Solas Trusts Charity was set up as a charitable trust in 1999 as a result of the tragic events of the 1998 Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. To date almost $450,000 has been donated to search and rescue organizations Australia wide, Financial support has also been provided to immediate families of those lost at sea during Australian Yachting Federation sanctioned races. 

If you are going to be in Sydney, the choices up for bidding are:

Wild Oats XI

In her Rolex Sydney Hobart debut, this state-of-the-art 30m maxi with canting ballast twin foil, took line honours in record time and won the Tattersall’s Cup – the only boat to take the trifecta since Rani in the first race in 1945. Wild Oats XI achieved the hat trick of line honours wins last year. Wild Oats XI is attempting a fourth successive line honours win following extensive modifications aimed at making the 30m Reichel/Pugh designed maxi faster and stronger. Two places are on offer on this ‘Makybe Diva’ of ocean racing.

Skandia

Two places on Grant Wharington’s 30m maxi Skandia from Melbourne are also available. The Rolex Sydney Hobart 2003 line honours winner, Skandia, is for the sixth time making the trip from Melbourne to Sydney for the Boxing Day start of the 64th race to Hobart. Come the 16th of December, Wharington and his Victorian crew will be charging around Sydney Harbour at breakneck speed attempting to be one of the front runners across the finish line off the Opera House.

Ichi Ban

CYCA Commodore Matt Allen has offered two places aboard his Jones 70 Ichi Ban, which finished third across the line in last year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart and is backing up this year. In the right conditions and on an open ocean, this modified Volvo 70 is capable of reaching speeds in excess of 30 knots or 55 kilometres per hour.

Andrew Short Marine Shockwave 5

Andrew Short’s new acquisition has brought him recent success on the race track. After purchasing the boat in the USA earlier this year and before bringing her back to Australia, she took line honours in the St David’s Lighthouse Division of the 2008 Newport Bermuda Race. Upon her return to Australian shores, Andrew Short Marine Shockwave stretched her legs at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week and has since proven she is a dominant force in this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race after notching up a win in the Gosford – Lord Howe Island Race (which is often used as a qualifying race for Hobart). Two places are also on offer on this exciting boat.

Bidding for all four items will close on 8th December 2008. Terms and conditions apply. See more here

108 boats are expected to start the second largest Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race fleet in a decade. It is 10 years since the 1998 race saw 6 lives lost when horrific weather hit the fleet during the 628 nautical mile race.

CYCA Commodore Matt Allen said at the press conference:
‘It is pleasing to have the second largest fleet in a decade this year, which is a testament to the ever-growing worldwide popularity of the race. The fleet represents yacht communities from every state in Australia and the ACT, with twelve yachts representing nine countries making up one of the largest international contingents in recent years,’

International entries are particularly strong with 12 yachts representing nine countries, including Switzerland, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany, USA, New Caledonia, France, Russia and New Zealand.

Bob Oatley’s 30 metre maxi Wild Oats XI is aiming for a record fourth consecutive line honours win. In the Cabbage Tree Island race, the Mark Richards skippered Wild Oats XI broke the course record.

Grant Wharington’s Skandia, the 2003 line honours winner and the second 30m maxi in this year’s race, has also had a quiet year. The Victorian maxi is being groomed for its sixth attempt, with Wharington hoping to turn his luck around following a string of mishaps during three of the last four Rolex Sydney Hobarts.

A number of brand new boats have graced this year’s start list including Stephen Ainsworth’s Reichel/Pugh designed 63 footer Loki, the replacement for Ainsworth’s previous Loki which had to be abandoned during last year’s Rolex Middle Sea Race.

The 50 foot range is sporting some of the best IRC grand prix racers in the country led by a sizeable fleet of Transpac 52s (TP52). Challenging them will be the brand new Farr 55 Living Doll out of Victoria, Geoff Ross’s always well-sailed Yendys and the slightly smaller but equally competitive Cookson 50s Quantum Racing and Shogun.

Official Site of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race : http://www.rolexsydneyhobart.com/